KEITH'S WARGAMING BLOG.
This blog has been created to share my exploits in the hobby of wargaming. I game in the WW2, Seven Years War and Ancient periods. The blog also contains a few details of my book 'Airborne Armour'. Please don't quit the site without leaving a comment, even if not related to a specific post. Most wargamers have something interesting to say about the hobby!

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Saturday, 21 April 2018

Old School Napoleonics (2)

Mr Asquith has been a little under the weather of late, so it was with great pleasure that I attended his house a few days ago to recommence our regular games. The occasion was celebrated in fine fashion with a game in one of the great wargaming periods, played using some classic figures. To wit, a Napoleonic game with 30mm figures from the Willie (Edward Suren) and Tradition (Charles Stadden) ranges, both still available from Tradition of London. All the figures had been painted, and the units assembled, relatively recently by Stuart. As so often, the game turned out to be an object lesson in how much pleasure can be wrung from a modest number of figures, simple rules and a dining table playing area. To illustrate this, we will begin with the orders of battle of the opposing armies. The figures in brackets are the number of models in each unit.

The objective for each side was simple - the destruction of their opponents. The photo below shows the armies laid out for battle, with the British nearest the camera:

It will be as well to start with some close ups of selected units on their start lines, just to give a flavour of the lovely figures in use.

British cavalry, with the Light Brigade nearest.
The British would suffer from their inferiority in heavy cavalry.

The Emperor Napoleon and his suite.

The 2 battalions of the Gloucesters with their magnificent colours.

The rules in use were particularly simple, and are appended at the end of this post. In particular, the game distances are adapted for a 6' x 3' dining table. And so we commenced the game:

The British 1st Infantry Division, in all their glory, wait to move off.

The inevitable cavalry melee commenced almost straight away.

The French extreme right. Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard move through the village
with light infantry covering their flank.

A firefight commences across the main road.
Both sides were initially reluctant to sound the charge.

The French advantage in heavy cavalry soon told on the other flank.
The crossroads is firmly in French hands.

Deadlock between the French (far side) and British (near side) infantry.

The French cavalry breakthrough forces one of the
battalions of the Gloucesters into square.

The 95th Rifles having been ridden over at the crossroads, Stuart conceded "to save needless slaughter".
Or in other words, to avoid the spectacle of his army being rolled up by my cavalry!

We concluded the afternoon by reviewing the ECW units Stuart has put together, using the same figure manufacturers as seen in this battle. The ECW is a period I have often considered playing, but have never ventured into. I look forward to trying this new venture in the future, once we have adopted some suitably simple rules! Talking of which, the rules used for this Napoleonic dust-up are given below.

Oh and by the way, if you want to view the first 'Old School Napoleonics' post, check this link. See you next time.

This reminds me very much of the Napoleonic games a group of us used to play about 40-odd years ago - Charge adapted for small units (9-figure infantry and 5-figure cavalry regiments).However, our rules adaptations were far less well thought out than what has been presented here!

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This is an example of the best sort of Osprey - where a fresh perspective is given to a subject by a well-informed author. Some may conclude that in rehabilitating the Prussians the author takes his revisionism a little too far. However, there is much solid information here on organisation and tactics, illustrated with some very nice explanatory artwork. For me, it was well worth the price.

About Me

I was born in 1957, and am married with 3 children. I have been interested in military history for as long as I can remember, and have been wargaming since I was a teenager. I work as an Air Traffic Controller.